West Coast pipeline deadline day: Carney, Smith to make announcement in Fort McMurray

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government has designated a new West Coast pipeline project as being in the “national interest,” paving the way towards approval for a project to ship an additional one million barrels of crude oil daily to Asian markets.

Carney made the announcement in Fort McMurray , Alta., Thursday flanked by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

“We have to do this, because the world is facing an energy crisis on three dimensions,” Carney said.

“There’s an immediate challenge of affordability and in some countries the very availability of hydrocarbons, there is a structural challenge of energy security and the existential challenge of climate change. And these challenges are forcing countries to think differently about where their energy comes from and who they can rely on to supply it.”